Connecticut congressional leaders want ICE to release a man who was detained after an appointment for his green card.
Masked ICE agents took the man on July 16 after a routine appointment in East Hartford. The 35-year-old, who is only being referred to as Zia, was formerly an interpreter for American forces in Afghanistan. He traveled to the U.S. on a humanitarian parole visa after fleeing the Taliban due to safety concerns.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and U.S. Rep Jahana Hayes (D-CT) joined a virtual press conference hosted by AfghanEvac on Tuesday. It's an organization that works to provide support for Afghan allies who served alongside the U.S. during the war. Zia was approved to apply for a Special Immigrant Visa, which allows Afghan nationals who supported U.S. missions lawful permanent residence.
Hayes said Zia’s family contacted her office when they found out he was detained. She then reached out to AfghanEvac to help the family get more information. Hayes called the case the first of its kind for her office because Zia was taken despite having no criminal record.
“Zia has a family here in Connecticut. They have given up their homeland, they have risked their health and safety in the name of standing up for the promises of our American democracy,” Hayes said. “That could not have been easy at the time, so this betrayal has to be that much more difficult.”
Zia got approval from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services to continue his application in the U.S. because he faced serious danger. When he was seized, Zia visited a USCIS service center for the first step to acquire his green card.
“The idea that we had someone who was here legally, had not had any interaction with law enforcement, who was doing everything that they were supposed to do, who was invited to this country and escorted into this country to be detained, and the family knows not where they were,” Hayes said.
Zia’s attorney said transported to a facility in Plymouth, MA. She said he is being held in ICE detention, and the family has little information about what will happen next. ICE officials issued an Order of Expedited Removal based on the claim that he “entered the U.S. illegally and without documents,” but Zia’s lawyer said that is false. A federal judge temporarily stayed Zia’s removal.
Blumenthal will sponsor the “Afghan Adjustment Act”, a bipartisan bill that would allow Afghans who sought refuge in the United States to apply for permanent legal residency after undergoing additional vetting. He said Zia risked his life for the United States and deserves better treatment than he has received.
“He actually worked and risked his life in Afghanistan to uphold the values and rights that are central to democracy, ” Blumenthal said. “For now, him to be, in effect, violated in his rights, when he has fought for those rights here, is completely disgraceful.”
